


beacon

by myrosebudboy



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 03:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9052711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrosebudboy/pseuds/myrosebudboy
Summary: just a short little piece about ebb





	

**Author's Note:**

> a fic about ebb, for elaina on tumblr as part of the carry on secret santa 2016!

She never thinks about her magic. It’s almost effortless for her, almost like an extension of her arms, gently pulling at the universe to do her bidding. A little flick of her fingers, and her room is immaculate.

Sometimes, she plays games with her goats, a test of her skills. She sends their feed spiralling through the air, arranges it in a circle before letting it flow into their respective buckets. Her goats toss hay and dead leaves at her, and she laughs, throwing her arms out to stop them all in mid-air.

It’s hard to explain, she reflects. She can _feel_ everything. When she whips leaves into a swirling storm around her and freezes them immediately after, she’s aware of every leaf twitching, hovering around her. One tiny twitch of her hands can move an individual leaf, hidden in the chaos. She can move things from a distance away, move her goats one by one by taking control of their horns and gently tugging them in a direction, even create a tiny night sky in her room, surrounded by stars.

No one visits her much, so no one knows, and she likes that no one knows.

She’s just finished lightly steering her goats back towards her hut when someone glides up behind her, and she turns around instantly, arms raised in defense.

The Mage holds up his hands. “Quite some magic you’ve got there.”

She doesn’t reply. Her heart is hammering in her chest, and her arms don’t lower.

“Why, Miss Ebb, I only came here to make a suggestion.”

She’s not sure why, but she doesn’t trust him at all. His voice is too smooth, his gaze too intense. He’s leaning forward, and she finds herself automatically leaning away.

When he sees that she isn’t going to respond, he continues, “You see, with your power and my intelligence, we could be very formidable indeed.”

He tilts his head, waiting. She can’t open her mouth.

“However,” he says, taking her silence for agreement, “we do not have the - ah, authority, to reach our greatest potential. We would have to be leaders, you see? With influence, we could do anything. Of course, I’m already in line for such a position, as Deputy Headmaster of Watford. There’s just one thing in the way, as I’m sure a woman of your calibre can guess...”

He trails off delicately, but his intent is clear.

“You want me to commit murder.” Her voice is flat. “You want me to kill a woman who has shown me nothing but kindness. You want me to repay her by killing her and her son.”

The Mage doesn’t even flinch. “How crude.”

“Is it not the truth?” Her voice shakes, and she hates herself for it.

“Well,” he drawls, and she belatedly notes that her fingernails are digging crescents into her palms. She can’t uncurl her fingers.

“No.” Her voice is firm. “And if you thought I’d say anything else, you’re a lunatic.”

He growls. “Think this through. We could be-”

“I don’t care,” she interrupts. “I don’t care what we could be. I don’t want to be anything. If you had a shred of human decency in you, Davy, you would stop this nonsense now.”

His eyes are wild, wide. “You’ll regret this. I promise you, you will regret this as long as you live.”

Maybe later, she’ll understand that the Mage has other ways of realising his plans. Maybe later, she’ll wake up in the middle of the night and hear faint screams and shouts from the castle. Maybe later, she’ll smell the smoke, see the fire, feel the weight of her realisation come crashing down on her. Maybe later she’ll hate herself, keep herself awake wondering why she didn’t try harder to fight.

But for now, she just turns and walks away.


End file.
